The glorious high soprano of Grace Davidson was the talking point of the performance on 6th December 2014 of the Messiah in Truro Cathedral. A packed cathedral was pin drop silent in the performances of "I know that my redeemer liveth" and "How beautiful are the feet" - and the comparatively delayed arrival of the soprano in the Messiah made the impact all the greater. The great Victorian edifice beautifully in tune with the high controlled and appealing phrasing of a singer on top form.
The Christmas concert by the impressively rehearsed Three Spires Singers directed by Chrisopher Gray, organist at Truro Cathedral had a strong soloist line up with in addition to Grace Davidson, Nicholas Hawker a Cornwall based tenor of fine technique, Stephen Kennedy a robust and adept bass suitably noble in the wonderful interplay with trumpet in "The trumpet shall sound".
and mezzo soprano Lise Christensen. Sadly, the acoustic mulligatawny soup that this otherwise glorious Victorian cathedral delivers for both orchestral and vocal music in the bass range and the middle range did not give as much help to these soloists. Truro is poorly served for musical venues. The Hall for Cornwall is a notoriously "distant" sound which provides little rapport between audience and performers, the cathedral provides a boom box which makes discerning performance and listening difficult. A performnance on the famous Willis organ by Luke Bond earlier in the week of fhte J.S. Bach in dulci jubilo demonstrates that even the Victorians did not manage great acoustic engineering.
Still it is remarkable that a piece written 250 years ago has still such a strong hold on the collective cultural identity of Englishmen and also Cornishmen. Handel's impact in the 18th an 19th century strongly influenced the Anglican and Methodist composers and organists, the West Gallery tradition of Wessex and Cornwall. Observing the audience in the Cathedral rapt up in the performance of a work (over) familiar to the majority - not much has changed. I would suggest its enduring appeal is its combination of the prospect of the safe enjoyment of a chocolate digestive biscuit together with the spiritual uplift that choral writing of such sublime genius provides for the reluctant Anglican church-goer the reassurance of a fleeting intimation of divinity.
Three Spires Singers and its director are to be congratulated that their programming, recently including such comparative novelties for Choral societies as Elgar's "The Music Makers" and "Israel in Egypt" and destined to include new commissions from Paul Drayton and Russel Pascoe, can also deliver a Messiah with panache, a tight ensemble and a determination to make a performance to remember.
To enjoy an album devoted to Grace Davidson's singing from the monody of Hildegard of Bingen to Mozart's Exsultate Jubilate click the link above.
The Christmas concert by the impressively rehearsed Three Spires Singers directed by Chrisopher Gray, organist at Truro Cathedral had a strong soloist line up with in addition to Grace Davidson, Nicholas Hawker a Cornwall based tenor of fine technique, Stephen Kennedy a robust and adept bass suitably noble in the wonderful interplay with trumpet in "The trumpet shall sound".
and mezzo soprano Lise Christensen. Sadly, the acoustic mulligatawny soup that this otherwise glorious Victorian cathedral delivers for both orchestral and vocal music in the bass range and the middle range did not give as much help to these soloists. Truro is poorly served for musical venues. The Hall for Cornwall is a notoriously "distant" sound which provides little rapport between audience and performers, the cathedral provides a boom box which makes discerning performance and listening difficult. A performnance on the famous Willis organ by Luke Bond earlier in the week of fhte J.S. Bach in dulci jubilo demonstrates that even the Victorians did not manage great acoustic engineering.
Still it is remarkable that a piece written 250 years ago has still such a strong hold on the collective cultural identity of Englishmen and also Cornishmen. Handel's impact in the 18th an 19th century strongly influenced the Anglican and Methodist composers and organists, the West Gallery tradition of Wessex and Cornwall. Observing the audience in the Cathedral rapt up in the performance of a work (over) familiar to the majority - not much has changed. I would suggest its enduring appeal is its combination of the prospect of the safe enjoyment of a chocolate digestive biscuit together with the spiritual uplift that choral writing of such sublime genius provides for the reluctant Anglican church-goer the reassurance of a fleeting intimation of divinity.
Three Spires Singers and its director are to be congratulated that their programming, recently including such comparative novelties for Choral societies as Elgar's "The Music Makers" and "Israel in Egypt" and destined to include new commissions from Paul Drayton and Russel Pascoe, can also deliver a Messiah with panache, a tight ensemble and a determination to make a performance to remember.
To enjoy an album devoted to Grace Davidson's singing from the monody of Hildegard of Bingen to Mozart's Exsultate Jubilate click the link above.
